Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1887-11-29
HERALDRY IN AMERICA.
NOTES MADE IN A METROPOLITAN
COAT or ARMS FACTORY.
Anybody Can Have . Coat ef Arns By
Paying Cor it-Chst with an Author
ip oa the sahasss-nesus Goats y
Arms-

Paying fsr it-Chat with an Author
isy oa the sahjs-s-ussus Goats .
Arm..
A reporter was strolling through croes
street the other day when his attention
was attracted by sign over the door 81
one Of the basement shops with which the
place abounici. The sign read;
''iiall of Recorls-Tegai, Genealogical,
Ilcraldlc. Family Searches and investiga.
ilons made In oil parts ~ Euopc; Herald
~ in all its legal hearings. with full In.
terprrtations, Family llccorls ~ Dutch,
Puritan, French, German and English
Families Fifteen Years the forrign
Agent ~ the New York College Of Herald.
Go ~ lIuguenOts, Antique Clocks, Iur.
niturr. Portraits AMI Paintings with Ar
moral Deanngs."
The windows above which this lengthy
iercnd was displayed were fllcd with a
collection % heraldic devices, coats OF
arms painted ia bright col0rs and norii
designs on large sheets of paper and
parchment, old book plates and copies ~
inscriptions on old tombstoncs. Inside,
upon the walls and doors, were designs
representing coais % arms, which were
Ascritrd a. nearly all the noted men %
the present time. Around the sides of
the room were ranged rows ~ tall, brass
faced clocks ~ the style % century or
two ago. and several other pieces %
antique fashioned furniture. They were
oil made after the same general plan and
method ~ ornAmeniati0n, bsing built of
DARK oolored oak, inlaid with n lighter
eolorcd wood resembling maple. Coats of
arms % different families anil ~ various
nationAlltles were worked into the In
laying. ON u scrccn were hung seyeiI
time stained cracked oil paintings, while
ON dresser IN the corner was n set
% cruckery very much rrsembling the
cheap 'blne china" manufactured largely
now, and sprinklei around the room were
several hits of old Armor. rusty looking
swOr,is, yellow leafed books aud anti.
quaied prints. The place had the appear
Ance of an ''old curiosity shop" but nj
the same time there was an air % siml.
iarlty and uniformity In the contents Of
the room that could not but suggest the
posslbllliy u the various articles having
come from the same factory. and having
trcn turned out within the last decade.
The similarity ~ the clocks wa. particu.
iariy startling The genius who presided
ia this abo.le % questionable antiquity
was n bald headed, deaf little man. who
seemed % - full ~ all kinds ~ hcraldic
iorr. bat raitled hls stories OF ~ though
be hai learned them by heart from acyclo-
pcils-
In answer tO question az tO where all
these antique articles came from, the ro-
porter was informed that the proprietor
hal brought them over with him" the
Last time be visited Holland. There"
sAid be, pointing to one % the clocks, "is
a VerplAnck clock. found u tho last
time I was over I was walking along
the streets ~ Amsterdam and noticed the
sscuteheon ~ the family built into tho
wall u an old house. got permission
q, 40 up into the attic, and up in the cock.
loft-beiwecn the attic and the roof-f
found this old clock II was covered with
becswax and dirt bought 10. and
brought u home and nxcl Il up. There
4 a Van Horne clock. here IL an AsiOr
elosk. here
How 10 you gct hold % your coats 81
armsf inquired the reporter. raising his
voice t0 make the little man hear him.
ID YOU tlfllA tFIaN~H ~ Allf hANAAHf AA1I
They arv all the result Of careful IN.
vesiigatiop," replied the little man. II
have In my possession over ~, 90 records
Of all the leading families In America,
coco % iIugueno,s. and over sO,vo
copies ~ Inscriptions on tomistones In
Holland AMI different parts of Eurvpe l
have them all alphabetically Arranged,
AMI can lay my hand ON any one " them
In a minute"
no you have much call for tho results
Of your inycstlgationsr' was askei
''oh, yes, my business Is very good"
rrplled the little man. II supply cOats of
arms "a ali the principal families In New
York. They come % me and want me to
look up the history u their family and
r,nt their coat u arms for them. have
such n large number ~ records that can
almost always fnd n for them"
!iut what do you do In ease they have
no coat of arms'' asked the reporter.
"Oh, well. In that case" replied the 1T
sle man, "therc l. no law 10 hinder man
fr,m adopting one. Sometimes people
don't Ike the colors of the coats that be-
long to them, and want me % paint them
An different col0rs. Of course In that case
can only give them certificate that 1;
is painted Ike copy shown
The reporter having become Interested
IN the little deaf mans praitle, concluded
a. make few further inquiries on the
subject, and see II the heraidry business
was In such fiourishing condition as he
rcpresentesi II. With this object he called
upon Mr. Edward Vermont, the well
known editor ~ the book entitled Amer
lea IIeraidica," and one % the best
authorities on the subject In the country.
NJ. Vermont was found and expressed
himself ~ very ready TO talk upon the
subject.
While expressing the utmost contempt
for all persons having anything todo with
bogus arms, Mr.. Vermont was decidedly
of the opinion that there was 10 good
reason why persons who were entitled 10
historic coats of arms should not display
them In America as well as anywhere
else
'The fact is," said he, there are very
few families that are entitled 20 arms
anyway. The number is much smaller
than "a generally supposed, even by those
well read on the subject. do not sup
POSE that there are COO families In Amer
lcA NAn uhNt uil tase W e"' "sh., sa.y
wear. There surely are not over 200 In
New Yogk, and not over twenty of these
are Rnlckcrbocker families. The number
Of these Il very small indeed, as almost
all ~ the early Dutch settlers came from
merchant families In Holland, and there
wsrc very few % them that were not
fgnobllis, a. they are called In heraidry
that Il, not entitled 10 wear arms"
'IIow large proportion Of the coats OF
arms that We see on coach panels, then,
are genulne," asked the reporter.
"Not over per cent. replied AIR.
Vermont, ''and doubt II there are that
All the others are bogus. | do not mean
that they arc all made mp out Of whole
cloth, but most % them are well known
coats. which the persons who wear them
have no right 20 whatever. In many In
stances the people arc perfectly honest In
their belief that they belong TO theu.
Sometimes their father assumed them
and bore them 40 long that he began to
think he owned them. and their children
haven't doubt that hs did-"--Sew York
Sun.
swimming for Girls.